Traditional mass marketing activities have been transformed by the Internet. For example, broadcast marketing issues information from a single source to multiple receivers in a one-to-many relationship model. In contrast, marketing on the Web follows a different model, described by Hoffman (1996) as many-to-many where many sources broadcast to many different individuals. With the introduction of the content menu Zellweger (1997) observes another type of model, many-to-one where multiple access paths lead to the same unit of information. Yet, McKenna (1997) views the most significant difference in Web-based marketing is not in its relationship models but in its interactive capabilities and, in particular, its ability to process marketing data in real-time.
Zellweger (U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,125) disclosed the means to build a content menu using an open hierarchical data structure. Next, Zellweger disclosed how to implement the content menu using hypertext links optimized for traffic on the Web (09/080,100). A further disclosure by Zellweger teaches how to implement a content menu using an applet technology like Java that is optimized for client server communication (09/080,102).
More recently, Zellweger disclosed how to generate and manage end-user profiles (09/277,015) based on paths buyers select to locate products in an electronic catalog. End-user profiles include information like the level of help end-users needed to find information and differences in training and background as judged by their word usage. By looking at cognitive and linquistic differences amongst end-users, this prior invention introduces a new way to conduct end-user marketing research on a network, create profiles, and track these profiles over time. However, this prior disclosure does not teach how to apply this art to expand interactive marketing capabilities.